Europe's Monetary Policy
May Be Bad Fit for Some

Updated Dec. 21, 1998 12:01 a.m. ET

The traditionally high-yield countries of Ireland, Spain and Portugal have been among the biggest beneficiaries of European economic and monetary union. The move to make the economies of the 11 participating countries converge has led to sharply lower interest rates and rapid economic growth in all three peripheral countries. But Pedro Videla, an economics and sociology professor at the Barcelona-based business school Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa, or IESE, warns that Europe's one-size-fits-all monetary policy could have drastic consequences for the high-growth peripheral countries -- unless, he told...